Kylian Mbappé had already warned when he signed for Real Madrid that three games without scoring is not enough for many people, but a lot for him. Now he has two (Liverpool and Vallecas), albeit with a disturbing fact: it is the first time since arriving at the Bernabéu that he has combined two complete games without shooting on goal. The Frenchman, scorer of 18 goals this season, has not hit the target in these two matches, and Xabi Alonso’s team has neither won nor scored.
This circumstance reveals two facts: on the one hand, the scoring contribution of the other attackers is too far from Kiki (next in the ranking is Vinicius, with five goals), which generates a dependence on the Frenchman; and on the other hand, if Real attack badly, as happened at Anfield and with Rayo, Mbappé tends to pull away. He requires passers to position him in front of the opponent’s goal to score with his foot, and the more open the better (none of his 62 Madrid goals were headers). Otherwise, your options narrow. No one understood this better than Arda Güler (his six assists went to the Frenchman), although he has recently delayed his position to bring in Jude Bellingham.
This Saturday, Xabi Alonso called for a cooperative effort to find goals for everyone. “We analyze it and it doesn’t just depend on Kylian, it’s a team thing. When we don’t adapt, it’s not just because of the defenders, it’s because of the whole team. When we don’t score, we have to look for alternatives, not just the striker. It could be the wingers, the second line midfielders, the set pieces…”, he explained on the eve of the trip to Elche (9pm, Movistar), where Militão, Carvajal, Rüdiger Mastantuono and Tchouameni.
Karim Benzema spoke out this week Ace on the need for attackers to weave connections with each other. “Mbappé needs Vinicius, the other, the other… It’s like this. Vinicius, Mbappé, Rodrygo even if he doesn’t play much, Bellingham, they have to talk, the four of them, talk,” he said. However, he pointed to his compatriot as the great scorer: “There is one who is there to score goals, another is there to give assists. We will not tell Bellingham to score goals because Mbappé is there. We will not tell Mbappé to play 10…”, he argued.
Vini, six games without goals and eight without assists
The truth is that, up until the last two events, the Frenchman had been involved in 12 of the 14 accidents. He disappeared at Anfield and Vallecas, and Real Madrid paid him with interest because the other attackers’ scoring charts are not in green. Vinicius went six games without scoring (not even a penalty, he missed one against Valencia), and in three of these games he didn’t even have a shot on goal, according to the Opta company. In the assist chapter, the fast extends to eight games. It is true that he agitated Real Madrid in Getafe and against Juventus, but Xabi also asked him in Vallecas for more associative play instead of many dribbles against the world.
The third striker with the most minutes is still Franco Mastantuono, still out with groin pain but already out of the lineups on big days. He lost his place in those days with the return of Bellingham and because, despite Alonso having given him preference, his participation in 12 matches barely produced a goal and an assist (from maximum penalty caused).
Rodrygo asked to play on the left, although in the last duels, since Vini was replaced less, he played more on the right. His performance, however, has not changed: 1,378 minutes (plus insertions) without scoring. He hasn’t done so since March 4th. And in the championship the hole begins on January 19th. Even in the national tournament this year, he did not provide any assists.
A pass from Courtois to Kylian, the same from Vini, Rodrygo and Mastantuono
The commitment with Mastantuono made Brahim lose weight, even if he didn’t shine in the showcases he had either. He scored only one goal, his fifth against Kairat. World Cup Golden Boot winner Gonzalo García has played just 36 minutes since October. The presence of Mbappé and Xabi’s immobility in the substitutions after Vini’s tackle took away even more attention. And Endrick (just a quarter of an hour ahead of a dedicated Valencia) is ever closer to exiting in January.
Without much help from the other attackers, Real relied on Mbappé’s attack and a scan of his 18 goals clearly reveals where the Frenchman got his money’s worth. And from where little. He scored six goals assisted by Güler, who in recent games has positioned himself more at the start of the game – that is, further away from the Frenchman – to try to be compatible with Bellingham. Another six goals were scored from penalties. And in the remaining six he received the same assists from Courtois (one) as those from Vinicius, Brahim and Jude (the other two came from a mistake by Real and a blow by the Frenchman). For Mastantuono and Rodrygo the statistics count one assist each for the maximum number of penalties caused.
Real Madrid needs more scoring routes than Mbappé and the Frenchman needs passers. Neither of these things happened in Liverpool and Vallecas.
